Most Canadians don’t feel ready for climate‑driven disasters and are failing to take basic steps to protect their homes and finances, according to Jacob Reynolds (pictured), director of commercial operations for Eastern Canada at First Onsite Property Restoration.
Reynolds said homeowners face two main weaknesses: the condition of their properties and their finances. Many have not done the basic work to reinforce and maintain their homes against severe weather, he noted, and they also lack a clear grasp of how their insurance will respond and what financial decisions they will be forced to make when a disaster actually strikes.
He said many homeowners dismiss certain risks entirely – for example, assuming their neighbourhood “doesn’t flood” – right up until they experience an event. When that happens, they often discover they lack the right coverage or safeguards, leaving them exposed to significant out‑of‑pocket costs, extensive property damage and long periods either displaced from their homes or living in them in a compromised state.
Survey data cited by First Onsite suggests fewer than a third of respondents have an emergency kit at home and only a little over a third know their evacuation route. Reynolds said several factors contribute to that lack of basic preparedness.
“I think there’s a psychological aspect of preparing for something that is not fun and is difficult to go through,” he said. “A lot of people don’t buy life insurance and things of that nature because they don’t want to think about that eventuality.”
He also pointed to shifts in how people get their information, saying the mix of channels now makes it harder to deliver simple, trusted messages about risk. Instead of relying on a single source such as print, households juggle social platforms, online outlets and traditional news, he noted, and that fragmentation shapes how they perceive threats, whether they accept they are at risk and how seriously they take the need to prepare.
Reynolds said there is also a mismatch between public expectations of government and first responders and the realities of large‑scale events.
He noted that roughly two‑thirds of survey participants felt the government could do more, and fewer than half said they trusted local emergency response.
“When we look at different area‑wide events… you have to prioritize things, you have to create a level of triage,” he said. “Things like infrastructure sites, health care, financial institutions, grocery stores become significant because that impacts how everyone lives, the access they have to their resources.”
Prioritizing that may be perceived as not doing enough to focus on the other things that are secondary or tertiary in that loss perspective, he added.
Part of the problem, he said, is that people caught up in a loss naturally focus on their own situation.
“When you’re in the middle of something, your only perspective is your own,” he said. “There is going to always be a bigger picture perspective that needs to be considered, and that might not be immediately evident to someone who’s going through something that’s incredibly difficult, impacts their family, impacts their finances and their home and life.”
The survey also found many people say they would grab pets and phones before emergency kits or first‑aid supplies. Reynolds said the attachment to pets is understandable, but he is more concerned about the priority given to technology.
“People feel an immediate need for their connection and the connectivity offered through their personal devices,” he said. “That may not be as practical as a go bag with medical supplies and emergency food, especially if we’re looking at connectivity outages. Your phone becomes a brick if it doesn’t have access. It’s a doorstop… if it’s not connected, it doesn’t do anything for you.”
While cloud storage has reduced the risk of losing irreplaceable photos and files, he said, families still need to think harder about what truly matters in an evacuation.
“Luckily, we see more awareness. And I think awareness drives better preparedness, and better preparedness leads to better decision making in the moment.”
Reynolds said that for households or small businesses wanting to become “meaningfully more prepared” in the near term, three priorities stand out: financial protection via insurance, physical maintenance of the property, and a simple, practiced plan.
“Protect yourself financially,” he said. “Have regular conversations with your insurance broker or your insurance company to ensure that your policy covers the things that you need to be protected against.”
He warned against buying a policy once and then letting it renew unchanged. On the physical side, he urged homeowners to “harden aspects of your home” through basic upkeep.
Finally, he said, families need a simple, shared plan.
“Have a plan… as to what needs to happen when something bad happens, and you need to get out of there,” he said.
